Ev's Bday Party

We went small with Ev's party this year as we just been with both sides of the family on vacation and he really wanted to have some quality time with just his little buddies!  It was so much fun.  I feel so blessed that my little man has some great friends.  Some couldn't come and some live too far away (Isaac!) but it was a good group.  The crew was Evan, Alea, Conner, Kate, and Solon.  The parents dropped them off so we could do pizza and games, and came back later for ice cream/cake.
After the parents left, we got busy having the kids make their own mini-pizza.  It was so fun for the kids and I loved watching them stand around their little table perfecting their pie.  Next up was Knock over the Villain game.  I taped pictures of villains to 2 liter pop bottles and the kids had three tries with a tennis ball to knock over a villain.  We had some superheroes with good arms!  After that we played a Kryptonite relay race, where they had to balance "kryptonite" on a spoon and race to get rid of it.  You can't touch kryptonite after all because you will lose your power!  None of the kids wanted that.
The pizzas were done by then so we went and ate.  The kids devoured them (except Solon, he was too excited!) and also enjoyed fruit chillers and juice boxes (a rare treat at our house).  The kids played for a while and the parents returned.  Ev got to open his gifts-2 different Lego sets, Hulk smash gloves, and Spiderman pajamas!  He and daddy have already put together one of the Lego sets and gotten pretty nasty with the Hulk gloves.  I stay out of that!  :)  We had yummy chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles with vanilla ice cream to finish the night.  Oh, and we had the kids watch some Mater's Tall Tales to wind down (and so the parents could chat!) Thanks to everyone who came and made his night so special!

Hope you enjoy these pictures and peek into the party!  Can't believe my little man is 4.  And actually I can't believe I am old enough to have a 4 year old!

The kiddos making their pizzas!  See their serious faces!

Dinner Time!  

The crew (words can't say how much I love this picture!)

Ev and his best buddy Solon (Isaac, you were here in Ev's heart!)

Good old Spidey

Opening presents

Wrestling with Conner

This boy loves pizza!

Victory! Spiderman Legos!

 

Ankeny Bond Referendum

So...it is quite tense here in suburbia today with a bond referendum which proposes a 10th elementary school being built to open for the 2014-2015 school year.  From what I can gather, the community is pretty split.  The biggest reason being the proposed location of the school.  Apparently, it was the third choice of the demographer, but there is some kind of deal being exchanged between the school and the city.  The only reason I am writing this is I am trying to work this out in my own mind before I go vote and thought my ramblings might help someone else.
First, I want to say I am not a demographer, and I don't claim to know exactly where the 10th elementary should be built, but it doesn't seem like the location chosen is going to help like we need it to.  Second, I do agree that at some point we will need a 10th elementary school.  We are an ever growing city and student/teacher ratio is very important, but do we need it now? Or are there other options? So this is part of the reason I am torn: if I vote yes, it gets built where the district has decided, if I vote no, I feel bad for any teachers out there who might end up with a huge class size.  I have seen this first hand as a teacher, 2 dear friends of mine had class sizes of 30 and 31, and they did their absolute best as they are bar-none some of the greatest teachers I know, but that is just too many 5th graders in one class!
But here are my other  concerns with all of this:
Ankeny seems to be valuing new/fancy buildings and stuff as the best way to raise student achievement, as opposed to valuing parental involvement and teachers.  Prairie Trail, our newest elementary which opened just this past fall, is extremely nice!  It has all the bells and whistles-microphones for teachers, Smart Boards, beautiful decor, and more.  Does this mean these kids will be smarter, will they feel more loved, will achievement data improve?  Because of a building? Because of technology?  As a teacher and a parent, I would defiantly say NO!  The 2 most important factors in student achievement are parental involvement and teacher quality.  If a child has 2 parents that love and care and provide for them in a safe environment while providing rich learning opportunities and that same child has a teacher who is highly trained, dedicated, and takes the time to get to know and care for the child, then it doesn't matter if that child goes to Prairie Trail or in a one-room schoolhouse with a pad of paper and a pencil.  We need to value things differently here in Ankeny.  Giving our kids the best of the best in terms of "stuff" i.e. Ipads, laptops, SmartBoards, etc.) can not and will not ever replace their need for people in their life who love them and encourage them and help them find success.  I am wondering if Ankeny should maybe slow down in our spending of money on all the latest and greatest technology and buildings and get back to the basics.  If this bond referendum was for paying teachers more or hiring more teachers to lessen student/teacher ratio, you can bet I would have been there this morning to vote yes.  These teachers work extremely hard and I think would gladly appreciate the extra income for all their work.  But even more, if they had the choice, because of the great, caring people they are, the teachers I know would choose to use money to hire more teachers, instead of more money for themselves, so that the chance to help more students could happen.
I also worry about communication with the public.  I know of two particular schools where class sizes are very low and other schools that have lower numbers right now as well.  From what the district has said, it seems as if we vote no, that all classes would just bust at the seams.  Not sure if that is the truth.  Have we looked at re-districting the boundaries to shift things so we wouldn't have to build a new school right now?  Maybe they have, I don't know, but I just don't think any of this information has been communicated.
Sooooo.....as you can see there is a lot to think about.  It might seem like an easy decision for some, but I have not found that to be so.  15 million dollars is a lot of money.  Are we wise to invest in yet another building? Is that what is truly best for our kids?  The district and school board would like you to think so, but I am just not sure.
Off to chat with the hubs some more about this, and then I will vote.  Hmmmmm.....yes or no?    

Long time, no blog!

Hello there...it has been a while...and I simply chose not to blog for a while.  I don't ever want to feel like I have to blog; I want it to be fun to write about what is going on with our lives and what God is teaching us.  And I don't want it to ever take precedence over anything else going on in life, and January was a month of a couple of exciting as well as time consuming events-taking over as a co-leader of the Titus Bible study I have been attending for a while, getting to travel to Hawaii and California, and my son's 4th birthday.  And keeping us most busy is, we are seriously preparing for our move to Zambia, Africa come this September.  We have been busy writing our support letter, preparing for our home study (which will get us U.S. clearance to adopt), trying to figure out where we will live over there, researching flights, preparing necessary paperwork, and praying fervently over every step.
And if that doesn't sound like a full enough month, my husband is still working his normal 24 hours on/48 hours off firefighter schedule (getting no sleep I might add and coming home very groggy!) and I am busy caring for, playing with, and teaching Ev and Alea.
But I really do want to do a better job of documenting all of the fun that we have, all that God teaches us daily, all of our struggles, and this journey of moving to Africa to work with the Give Life Project and adopt a child.  So...be ready!  Hope you come and check out all the posts coming your way!  ;)

So.........some big news! Read to find out!

How did you like that title???  I love a little suspense.  But to be serious, my husband and I do want to share something really exciting that will be happening in our lives soon.  We are moving to.................
Africa!  Yes, you read that correctly. A little village named Chongwe in Zambia to be exact.  As of August 2013, we will be packing our bags, flying an extremely long flight with two young kiddos, and setting up a home in Zambia for a year.  2 years ago I would have (and actually did tell people that I didn't think I could ever even visit Africa) told you that you were crazy if you think I could handle living in such a different environment.  But of course, those were my thought, concerns, fears, and God is soooooo much bigger than that!
Last summer, something kept happening as I would watch my two beautiful kids play together.  There was something missing, no, not something, somebody...For a while, I couldn't put my finger on it-then an image of a little boy would pop into my mind.  God, are you telling me to have another child now?  I am not ready!  I am finally getting used to having 2!  But as the image became more clear to me, this little boy was not a baby and not white...Yes, I felt God telling me we should adopt a little boy from another country.  As I brought this up to my husband, he was hesitant at first-unsure of whether it was right for us and if he would love this child as his own so I just prayed that his heart would open to the idea...I started doing research and looking at various countries to see which might be the right fit for us and I would just show him what I found once in a while.  Then all of a sudden, he said he wanted to talk one night and proceeded to tell me that he felt like God wanted us to adopt from Zambia-he has been there 3 times and just has a heart and a deep connection to the people there.  You would think I would have been so excited that he finally agreed that we were supposed to adopt?  But there was one little problem-Zambia is one of the most difficult places to adopt from-which I already knew because I had looked it up and read the crazy, lengthy process.  So, then it was time for God to work on my little heart.  One of the requirements to adopt from Zambia is you have to foster the child for a minimum of 3 months!  What???  Zambia doesn't work with any U.S. agencies so you can't get the ball rolling on much of the legal work until you arrive in country.  What???  I am going to need to move there? What???  Sorry, about that, just trying to relay my attitude during that time.  And then my hubby really lowered the boom, "I think we should move there for a year and help the Give Life Project and the Bible college," said Mickey.  Excuse me?  Live in Africa for a year?  Leave my family/friends/church?  Leave my comfy/safe home?  Uproot my children?  Have my life change completely?  But as soon as these questions popped into my head, I heard God's still small voice- "Mandey, you are right. This is crazy. But this is what I am calling you to do-and you can do it-not of your own strength, but Mine."  And just like that, we made this decision to move to Zambia for a year.
1st and foremost, we will be finding our little boy. 2nd, we will be lending a hand to the Give Life Project, a non-profit organization started by some friends.  Mickey will be helping in all sorts of ways: discipleship, farming/agricultural methods that will help Zambians be self-sustaining, medical outreaches, and different construction projects.   I will be helping out by using my education background to help at the primary school Give Life has started and a local preschool.  3rd, we will be helping as needed out at the International Bible College of Zambia which was started by Gospelink, an organization our church supports as well as we support.  Finally, we pray that God will challenge us and grow us a family-that He will mold us and shape us into exactly who He wants us to be.  
So, that's the news!  We plan on updating this blog quite often about the process of international adoption and becoming part-time missionaries.  We have already had some ups and downs...but God is faithful and we have never felt more sure of anything in our lives.  Please pray for us as we begin this most exciting/scary/crazy time of our life!

2 of our favorite verses that encourage us to do what we are doing!
Psalm 82:3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and destitute.
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit widows and orphans in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.


If you want to visit the sites of the organizations we will be working with, they are here!
http://www.givelifeproject.com/#
http://gospelink.org

Zambian sunset

Zambia Map

Thankful Tuesday

1.  Alea's nose has stopped running like crazy!
2.  Seeing Ev singing in his Christmas program at church.
3.  Being able to go see Santa at 10 am with no lines!
4.  The free photo and carousel ride at Bass Pro Shops.
5.  My kids both sat on Santa's lap and smiled!
6.  Getting to go to church with my hubby-there is just something about sitting with him and worshiping God together.
7.  For studying Ephesians with our small group.
8.  Chocolate mint cookies-a family favorite.
9.  Fun MOPS night out-cookie exchange.
10.  Snow is coming!
11.  Break from normal pre-K with Ev, doing lots of fun Christmas stuff.
12.  Alea's joy from a certain song on a cd that is on continuous play in our van
13.  I got motivated to work out before kids are up-makes my day a lot easier!
14.  Sub job tomorrow!
15.  Presents are wrapped and ready to go.
16.  Our pastor is going to be teaching through The Story this next year.
17.  Christmas cards from friends and family-love seeing all the beautiful pictures and hearing how the year went.
18.  Time to visit with a good friend and her new baby!
19.  Got to visit my sis in law and her new baby last week-love little Chloe so much already!
20.  God sent His son into this world to save us all-to offer us eternal life in Heaven with Him-after this tragedy in Sandy Hook, I just keep thinking about how ONLY because Jesus entered this world and died a gruesome death for us-that these young children can spend eternity with Him in a place where there is no pain, no tears...thank you Jesus!

"Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?"  from the song, Mary, Did you Know?  

Deer Hunting Weekend at the Farm

Every year we head back to my in-laws farm so my husband can enjoy the 1st weekend of deer hunting season with his cousins.  The last two years we have added going to see the Amana Christmas village...it was beautiful again.  Here are some pics of the festivities!

Evan holding his cousin Caden

Oma walking with her 3 grandchildren in Amana

Love this pic of Old Oma with 3 of her great-grandchildren

One of the beautiful trees in the Amana Christmas village

The awesome German windmill (that I am always so scared my children are going to destroy!)

Ev checking things out with Opa

Cute-a Raggedy Anne doll tree

Ev, Alea, and Caden in Santa's sleigh

Love this cheesers smile from Alea!

There is Evan's smile, Caden is still not sure what to think...

They love Oma's Christmas village

Daddy started this  game of rolling them in this old chair 

And Brooke, their older cousin gladly kept pushing them!

Putting up the tree!

We have fun each year decorating our tree the day or a few days after Thanksgiving (depending on Mickey's work schedule).  It was really fun this year as both kids were really interested in actually helping hang all the ornaments!